Rangers W.F.C.

Rangers Women's Football Club is a women's football team that plays in the Scottish Women's Premier League, the top division of women's football in Scotland. The team is the female branch of Rangers.

Rangers Women

Full name	Rangers Women's Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Blue Belles
Founded	2008; 16 years ago (2008)
Ground	Broadwood Stadium Cumbernauld, Scotland[1]
Capacity	8,086
Owner	The Rangers Football Club Ltd
Chairman	John Bennett
Manager	Jo Potter
League	SWPL 1
2023–24	SWPL 1, 2nd of 12
Website	rangers.co.uk
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

Paisley City Ladies, formerly Arthurlie Ladies, was founded at the start of the 1999–2000 season. As a new club they started in the third (lowest) tier.^[2] In 2001–02 they played in Division One, directly under the Premier League, and stayed there until 2008.^[3] In the 2007–08 season they suffered financial problems, and began to search for a partnership with another club.

Rangers L.F.C. was founded in 2008, as Rangers followed the example of Celtic, Hibernian and Aberdeen in developing a women's section. The formation of the team involved a partnership with Paisley City Ladies.^[4][5][6] Former Rangers youth academy coach Drew Todd was brought in to coach the team. Scotland player Jayne Sommerville was signed as the new team's first captain.^[7][8] They took the league place of Paisley City and many players switched too.^[9] Rangers won the league in their debut season.^[10] They also reached the final of the Scottish Women's Cup but lost 5–0 to Glasgow City;^[11] they were the first side playing in a lower division to reach the final.^[12]

Former East Stirlingshire footballer Scott Allison was appointed manager in 2010.^[13] The club reached the Cup final again but were beaten 2–1 by Hibernian.^[14]

In May 2011, Alana Marshall became the first female Rangers player to be called up by the senior Scotland team.^[15]

In February 2012, The Herald newspaper reported that the financial crisis engulfing Rangers also threatened the existence of the club's women's section.^[16] The team continued to operate under budgetary constraints, and having appointed Angie Hind as coach (who was able to add quality to the squad using her extensive network of contacts in the women's game)^[8] they ended the 2014 SWPL season with a second place finish, the club's best result up to that point.

Ahead of the 2018 season, the official name of the team was changed to 'Rangers Women' from the previous 'Rangers Ladies'.^[17] In July 2019, the club announced a significant commitment to women's football by integrating their teams more fully into its operations and providing further financial support with the aim of becoming professional. To this end, the incumbent coach Amy McDonald was installed in a new position as Women's Manager, with former player and youth trainer Grégory Vignal appointed as head coach of the senior team.^[18][19] A few months later the team moved their home fixtures to the Rangers Training Centre in Milngavie following improvements made to its facilities, having previously been using New Tinto Park (home of Benburb F.C.) in the Govan area of Glasgow, near to the club's Ibrox Stadium.^[20] In January 2020 Malky Thomson was appointed joint first-team coach alongside Vignal,^[21] in June of the same year Vignal left the club Thomson was named head of the women's first team.^[22] In 2022, an arrangement was reached to play home fixtures at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld, due to capacity and parking issues at the training venue.^[1]

Current squad

As of 12 June 2024^[23]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SCO Jenna Fife 2 DF  SCO Nicola Docherty (captain) 3 DF  SCO Leah Eddie 4 DF  SCO Kathryn Hill 5 DF  NIR Laura Rafferty 6 MF  NED Tessel Middag 7 FW  SCO Brogan Hay 8 MF  ENG Charlie Devlin 9 FW  SCO Kirsty Howat 10 FW  ENG Rio Hardy 11 FW  NIR Megan Bell 13 FW  SCO Jane Ross 14 MF  SCO Mia McAulay

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 FW  SCO Lizzie Arnot 16 DF  SCO Eilidh Austin 17 MF  SCO Sarah Ewens 19 MF  SCO Chelsea Cornet 20 MF  USA Camille Lafaix 22 GK  NZL Victoria Esson 23 MF  SCO Kirsty Maclean 24 MF  ENG Olivia McLoughlin 26 FW  SCO Jodi McLeary 44 FW  ENG Katie Wilkinson 46 FW  SCO Lily Boyce 53 FW  ENG May Cruft

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  SCO Mason Clark (at Motherwell until June 2025) — FW  SCO Laura Berry (at Motherwell until June 2025) — MF  SCO Sophie Black (at Motherwell until June 2025) — MF  SCO Summer Laird (at Livingston until June 2025) — DF  SCO Mia McArthur (at Livingston until June 2025) — FW  SCO Cacee McKenna (at Spartans until June 2025) — MF  SCO Kirsten Love (at Hamilton Academical until June 2025) — FW  SCO Sophie Townsley (at Hamilton Academical until June 2025) — DF  SCO Abi Tobin (at Hamilton Academical until June 2025) — DF  SCO Millie Paton (at Queen's Park until June 2025) — FW  SCO Maddie Maxwell (at Gartcairn until June 2025)

Former players

Main page: Category:Rangers W.F.C. players

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Jo Potter
Assistant Coach	Jay Bradford
Assistant Coach	Craig McPherson
Women’s and Girls Managing Director	Donald Gillies
Goalkeeping Coach	Daniel Tobin
Head of Women's and Girls Goalkeeping Coach	Chris Flockhart
Women and Girls' Performance Analyst	Jake Boon
Sport scientist	Ashley Sweeney
Women’s and Girls’ Operations Co-ordinator	Sara Spiers
Kit Controller	Heather Renicks

Season-by-season records

Rangers Women F.C. seasons
Season	League division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Scottish Woman's Cup	SWPL Cup	Champions League
2008–09	Scottish Women's First Division	18	18	0	0	89	12	54	1st	Final	n/a	did not qualify
2009	Scottish Women's Premier League	11	4	0	7	20	27	12	7th	Final	Semi-final	did not qualify
2010		22	8	4	10	52	53	28	8th	Third Round	Quarter-final	did not qualify
2011		20	7	5	8	51	50	26	7th	Quarter-final	Semi-final	did not qualify
2012		21	7	3	11	37	41	24	9th	Semi-final	Quarter-final	did not qualify
2013		21	10	3	8	55	35	33	5th	Quarter-final	First Round	did not qualify
2014		21	13	4	4	71	24	43	2nd	Semi-final	First Round	did not qualify
2015		21	8	0	13	30	57	24	6th	Third Round	First Round	did not qualify
2016		21	9	0	12	35	57	27	5th	Semi-final	Semi-final	did not qualify
2017		21	6	2	13	33	51	20	6th	Second Round	Quarter-final	did not qualify
2018		21	8	1	12	33	46	25	4th	Semi-final	Quarter-final	did not qualify
2019		21	11	1	9	35	57	34	4th	Quarter-final	Semi-final	did not qualify
2020[24]		1	1	0	0	3	0	3	x	no competition	no competition	did not qualify
2020–21		21	16	0	5	76	10	48	3rd	no competition	no competition	did not qualify
2021–22		27	25	2	0	97	11	77	1st	Fourth Round	Quarter-final	did not qualify
2022–23		32	24	6	2	111	9	102	3rd	Final	Winners	Round 2
2023–24		32	26	4	2	113	18	82	2nd	Winners[25]	Winners	did not qualify

European history

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Home	Away	Aggregate
2022–23	UEFA Women's Champions League Champions Path	QF Round 1 Semi-final	Ferencváros	3–1
		QF Round 1 Final	PAOK	0–4
		QF Round 2	Benfica	2-3f	1–2 (a.e.t.)	3–5
2024–25	UEFA Women's Champions League League Path	QF Round 1 Semi-final	Arsenal	0–6
		QF Round 1 Third Place	Atlético Madrid	0–3

^f First leg.

Honours

• Scottish Women's Premier League: 2021–22^[26]
  • Runners-up: 2014,^[27] 2023-24
• Scottish Women's First Division: 2008-09^[28]
• Scottish Women’s Cup: 2023-24^[29]
  • Runners-up: 2008–09, 2010, 2022-23^[30]
• Scottish Women's Premier League Cup: 2022–23,^[31] 2023–24^[32]
• City of Glasgow Women's Cup: 2022^[33] 2023^[34]

See also

• Old Firm

References

1. Rangers: SWPL1 champions to host games at Broadwood Stadium, BBC Sport, 2 August 2022
2. "Paisley City Ladies Football Club | Womens Football". Archived from the original on 22 October 2009.
3. "Index of /NicsSeniorTimelines". scottish-football-historical-archive.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
4. "Gers Launch Women's Team". Rangers FC. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Rangers Womans Team - Rangers Football Club - Info and club news". wordpress.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
6. dailyrecord Administrator (15 July 2008). "Rangers launch women's team as female Old Firm clash looms". dailyrecord. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
7. Spiers, Graham (15 July 2008). "Rangers dip their toes into women's game". The Times. Retrieved 2 August 2011.^{[dead link‍]}
8. The Story Of Women's Football In Scotland, Rangers FC on YouTube, 21 August 2023
9. Steve Dinneen (28 June 2008). "Exclusive: Female Old Firm clash on cards as Rangers set to launch woman's team". dailyrecord. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
10. "Rangers Ladies & Rangers Girls - Archiv - Qiumi - Das Fußballforum von Fans für Fans". qiumi.de. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
11. "Ladies Lose Final". Rangers FC. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
12. "Rangers Ladies & Rangers Girls - Archiv - Qiumi - Das Fußballforum von Fans für Fans". qiumi.de. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
13. Dixon, Andrew (14 April 2010). "Spotlight on new Rangers Ladies Head Coach". SFA. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
14. "Women's Scottish Cup glory for Hibernian". BBC Sport. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
15. "Scotland Call Up For Marshall". Rangers FC. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
16. Campbell, Alan (18 February 2012). "Arsenal come calling for Glasgow City". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 18 February 2012.
17. "McDonald Excited At Progression". Rangers F.C. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
18. "Rangers Women: Gregory Vignal made head coach as club aim to add pro players". BBC Sport. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
19. "Rangers Women's Programme Investment Increased". Rangers F.C. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
20. "New Academy Stand Opens". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers FC. 2 August 2019. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
21. Shaw, Louise (28 January 2020). "Malky intrigued by challenge". rangers.co.uk. Rangers FC. Retrieved 4 October 2022.malky Thomson said the intrigue of a new challenge attracted him to becoming Joint Head Coach of Rangers Women
22. Thomson, Nick (24 June 2020). "Vignal to vacate role". rangers.co.uk. Rangers FC. Retrieved 4 October 2022.gregory vignal will today vacate his role as Joint Head Coach of Rangers Women’s first team
23. "Women's Team". Rangers Football Club. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
24. Lewis, Jane (29 July 2020). "SWPL season declared null and void after one round of games". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
25. "Report: Rangers 2-0 Hearts Women".
26. Rangers end 14 years of Glasgow City dominance with historic SWPL title win, Rangers News, 8 May 2022
27. "SWPL 1 Women 2014 Standings - Football/Scotland". www.flashscore.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
28. "Scottish Premier League 2008/2009 :: Scotland :: Edition profile :: playmakerstats.com". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
29. "Watch: Women's Scottish Cup final - Rangers v Hearts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
30. "Scotland (Women) - List of Cup Winners". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
31. "Sky Sports Cup final - Rangers 2-0 Hibernian: Lizzie Arnot scores screamer and Kirsty Howat adds second to seal victory". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
32. "Rangers Women 4-1 Partick Thistle Women: Jo Potter's side retain Sky Sports Cup with comfortable win at Tynecastle". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
33. "Rangers claim first-ever City of Glasgow Women's Cup with win over Celtic". Glasgow Times. 24 July 2022.
34. "Rangers mount late comeback to win Glasgow Cup over Celtic". heraldscotland.com. The Herald. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023. Rangers put down an early season marker after retaining the Glasgow Cup with a last gasp winner at Broadwood yesterday afternoon.

External links

• Fixture list on Rangers website
• Soccerway